Protect Your Retirement: Which Side of History Are You On?

“ It appears history is going to keep happening, despite our hopes for retirement.” - Gregory Maguire, Out of Oz

The question is: Will history keep repeating itself or are we writing a new page? Many in the financial industry believe we have reached a new era.

We live in a post-9/11 world that is riddled with confusion, economic fears, and a political world that looks like it may implode at any time.

Depending on how each of us feels about where we are, world history largely affects what we do with our retirement accounts. For example, there are those who look at our current market and see tremendous opportunities, while others see today’s market as uncharted waters and are unwilling to risk their life’s savings and investments in such a volatile age.

It seems to me that people’s choices about investing have more to do with their worldview than interest rates or dividends.

Regardless of our worldview, there are only two kinds of investors: Those who are young and need market growth for the long term, and those who are approaching retirement or in retirement and need their savings for income.

With a plethora of investments and advice coming from every angle, the average retiree has no idea what to believe or who to turn to. They have been told from their brokers that investing in annuities is the worst thing they could ever do, while at the same time they have their annuity guy telling them they will lose everything in the market. In reality, the broker and the insurance agent are giving flawed advice.

If you are a younger person with years ahead before you retire, you will need the market growth for the long term. However, if you are retired or nearing retirement, you may find that the stock market strategy that got you to retirement may not sustain you through your golden years. The annuity world is a great option for dependable, sustainable income in our retirement years.

We are living in world riddled with fears. I cannot imagine any investor who, in good conscious, can possibly believe that the market is the best option for a predictable retirement income.

History is going to repeat itself, and many retirees have lost most of what they have saved and worked for, but many did not lose their retirements because they did their homework ahead of time. They didn’t listen to the status quo saying, “Hang in there, the market always come back.” These people used the market to grow their money for retirement and then took the time to understand why an annuity can do what the market couldn’t, protect and secure a lifetime income.